Irish international Rory Townsend has taken another international win, this time on stage 1 of Tour de la Mirabelle (2.2) in France. He beat British rider Joseph Pidcock (Equipe Continentale Groupama-FDJ), the 19-year-old younger brother of Tom Pidcock.
The final place on the podium at the end of 158.8km from Pont-à-Mousson to Lesménils was taken by 22-year-old French rider Axel Zingle (CC Etupes).
With a 1.4km climb, at 9 per cent, peaked with just 5km to go to the finish tody the peloton split under the pressure after the day's early breakaway had been caught.
Townsend, a 25-year-old riding for British Continental level team Canyon dhb SunGod, had the legs to make the front group, which numbered just 30 riders as it approached the finish.
And when Townsend got sight of the finish line he was too fast for his rivals and took a very impressive win after a lead out from team mates Max Stedman and Callum Macleod.
Advertisement
He adds his victory today to the 3rd place he took in the prologue that yesterday opened the four-stage Tour de la Mirabelle.
Related News
He finished that 3.1km test in Tomblaine in the same time as stage winner Idar Andersen, the Uno-X Pro Cycling Team rider who was 2nd to Gianni Moscon (Ineos Grenadiers) on a stage of the Tour of the Alps last month.
Indeed, the first five riders in yesterday's prologue all finished on the same official time of 3:41, but were separated by fractions of a second. The absence of any time gaps, or time bonuses, today meant Townsend gained no time and so he has not taken the yellow jersey.
As well as Townsend in action in the French race, U23 Irish riders Finley Newmark (19) and Matthew Devins (18) are also riding the event; both for the Trinity Racing team owned by Irish cycling agent Andrew McQuaid.
Newmark was 103rd in yesterday's prologue at 19 seconds while Devins, who is riding his first race at Continental level, was 118th at 23 seconds. Today Newmark was 94th at 5:14 and Devins was 115th at 6:10. The field was today spread over 15 minutes from first to last man home.
Townsend is no stranger to winning international races and his form has slowly been building since the start of the season. His stage win today and 3rd place in the prologue yesterday come after very solid results earlier this season. He was 9th in Gran Premio Valencia (1.2) in January and was 10th in Ronde van Limburg (1.1) on Monday.
While Townsend's 2020 season was all but wiped out due to the pandemic, in late 2019 he won two stages of Tour of Fuzhou (2.1) in China. He was also selected onto the Irish team for the elite men's road race at the Worlds and claimed the sprints jersey at the Tour of Britain.
Topics
